Moments of Transition
by Bard the Kiwi
Summary: Skywarp must come to terms with who he is after his encounter with Unicron. One-shot "deleted scene" from Transformers the Movie (1986) that also serves to clear up a small plot hole.


Skywarp was worried. It wasn't the newly acquired warship, or the powerful new squad he was part of. It was his reflection. He was standing beside a shiny piece of metal beside a tactical console, and had noted how the reflection was completely wrong.

It just wasn't him.

Up until recently he had been one of the highest ranked and longest serving seekers in the Decepticon armada. He had been online for at least six million years, although admittedly four million of those he had spent dormant inside a crashed Autobot spacecraft. Then came the Great War.

Despite lasting only a matter of hours, the battle was undeniably one of the greatest victories the Decepticons had achieved over their enemy since the retaking of Cybertron five years earlier. Astrotrain had incepted a signal from Blaster to one of Cybertron's moon stating Optimus Prime was dead. Though Megatron had been severely damaged and left for dead by Starscream, he had still managed to defeat the Autobot's greatest champion. At least a dozen high-ranking Autobots were dead, the city would take months to repair and Cybertron's moons were now virtually defenseless.

Skywarp himself had played a few crucial parts in the battle, most notably teleporting into the computer room and disabling the proximity alarms, allowing the Deception force to creep up on the shuttle. He took the helm of the stolen Autobot shuttle and confused the ground control long enough for the Decepticons to get within striking distance. During the battle he had achieved air superiority over the city along with Thundercracker, strafing several Autobots on the ground. His greatest victory was personally killing Mirage, who was on the verge of killing Bombshell.

Still, all of that didn't matter as all Skywarp could think about was – quite literally – no longer the man he was.

Gone were the black and purple wings of old. Now he was predominantly purple and grey. His body felt stronger than it had ever felt before but he couldn't shake the fact that this 'new order' was just too different to what he was used to. In the blink of an eye, he was now another person. Altogether. On the other side of the room, four others stood around talking, all with new bodies, though with different expressions on their faces. All virtually identical, the one on the left was slightly larger than the others, and the other three, despite casually talking, showed this one a little more respect over each other. This would be Scourge, the leader of the Sweeps. Once his airborne associate Thundercracker, now his subordinate.

The other three were of different minds, as was he. One Sweep was smiling, clearly impressed by his new body. Another was nervous, enthralled by what Unicron – the being who has saved them – had given him but uncertain what it fully meant. The last of the Sweeps glanced over at Skywarp – no, _Cyclonus_ , he kept telling himself – and gave him a look which one could only describe as dissatisfaction.

Must be Bombshell, he thought.

During his salvation, Skywarp had been cast out of Astrotrain by Starscream, and the others who sought to survive. Understandable to a degree, given he was badly damaged and near death. Try as he could, even though it had only been a few minutes ago since his rebirth, he failed to recall the conversation between Megatron and Unicron. Megatron was ordered to destroy the Matrix, but demanded more. He was promised a new body and army, and so had been recreated as Galvatron, and Skywarp and the others were given a reprieve.

But Bombshell had been given the priority. Unicron didn't know or care for past hierarchy amongst Megatron's fallen warriors, only that he needed fodder for a new armada. Skywarp had been relegated to a simple soldier under the command of Bombshell, who was now called Cyclonus. But merely seconds after his creation, Galvatron had secretly accessed Unicron's creation matrix and altered his army; Bombshell was instantly changed into a Sweep and Skywarp's new body was enhanced further. He would like to think that Galvatron was offering Skywarp a promotion for all the hard years of service, but knew in his iron heart Galvatron simply didn't want a former Insecticon as his second in command.

Cyclonus stood to attention as Galvatron entered; the others in the room did the same. Galvatron surveyed his small army. Cyclonus knew that was an issue.

 _Small_.

Galvatron – like Megatron before him – wanted a vast army, and the five souls before him were a poor substitute. He wanted to access that creation matrix again, this time turning it on his entire army to gain thousands of Sweeps. He saw the potential of his new warriors but knew he should see how they behaved in battle first.

"I hunger."

Cyclonus was surprised by Galvatron's words.

"For what?"

"For the head of Starscream. Bring it to me."

Cyclonus smiled. "With pleasure." After millennia of serving Starscream, the tables were now finally and irretrievably reversed. Though he knew nothing would come of it. Megatron hated Starscream with a vengeance, and with this final act of betrayal, Galvatron wouldn't let anyone get near his trophy kill.

The ship arrived in Cybertronian orbit with little fanfare. Galvatron had already taken care of the early warning satellites with new advanced jamming technology. Cyclonus detected all patrols were busy on the surface preparing for the next Decepticon leader to step forward. _Something that couldn't be permitted_ Galvatron had told him. The Sweeps were preparing to disembark but Scourge had stayed back briefly, warning Galvatron that Unicron was approaching the outer edge of Cybertron's system. Galvatron had dismissed it, all thoughts focused on a single goal.

"Starscream is in the Hall of Heroes" said Cyclonus. Galvatron signaled everyone to the airlock. The four soldiers leaped first, but Galvatron put his hand on Cyclonus' shoulder.

"Clear the way for me. But Starscream is MINE."

Cyclonus nodded, leaped from the ship and transformed. He mass-shifted slightly and opened his canopy, allowing Galvatron to enter and take control. The pair of them flew ahead of the now transformed quartet of Sweeps and headed down to the surface.

He could see Starscream ahead on his scanner. Standing atop the platform at the north end of the hall. Cape and shoulder braces adorned his body – _which surely would prevent him from transforming_ , he thought. Starscream's body had clearly been repaired after the battle a few hours ago. Cyclonus could feel Galvatron take over his targeting controls and a full tactical strike of heavy ordinance was being ordered up. The blast would surely level the Hall of Heroes and kill many of his old comrades. Fortunately he could sense Galvatron hesitate, and finally back down.

 _By his own hands_ he thought.

Cyclonus looped into one final descent, heading for the Hall. At the speed Galvatron was piloting he'd slam into several soldiers if they didn't move. But he didn't care. This was the new order. This was Galvatron's time. The thrill of watching his comrades dive for cover as he flew in, staring in awe as he shot past them heading for the platform.

Suddenly he realized; all eyes were on him. HIM! Galvatron ejected and Cyclonus transformed, landing beside him as they faced Starscream, who was in shock. But everyone in the Hall couldn't take their eyes off them. Starscream could've issued any order he wanted and no one would notice.

Cyclonus could still feel everyone staring. Other Decepticons were starting to bow and nodding as he glared at them. His body was strong. He demanded obedience. And he knew he would get it. The new order was gonna mark a turning point in the Decepticons' future, and he was right there at the front of it.

By the time he turned his attention back to what was happening in front of him, Galvatron had already transformed and fired. Starscream's body burned brighter than the nearest star. Decepticons all over the Hall shielded their eyes as their new leader's reign – compared to Megatron who lasted more than 10 million years – was gonna last less than a minute. The arrogance of Starscream was about to be silenced forever. The Sweeps were keeping their eyes on Astrotrain and Ramjet, the two most likely to retaliate after Galvatron had just struck down their choice of leader; clearly Starscream had somehow promised the pair a share of the bounty he was expecting. Soundwave was already sending silent signals to other Decepticons off planet informing them, he assumed, to ignore his last transmission about who was now the Decepticon leader.

And as Starscream's body collapsed and disintegrated before him, only one thing was on his mind.

 _I'm gonna like this new body after all._


End file.
